High Sierra Topix

I'm just looking for road conditions/closures or if it's possible to get to the TH... Trying to decide between going out of there or Onion Valley for a couple days late next week.


Cheers!

Inyo County Roads Dept has an estimated opening date of May 1st for the Horseshoe Meadows Road. I'd call before heading up there because that is just an estimate - it closed mostly because of rockfall.

road to Whitney Portal opened yesterday - may not be that far off. I'd call the ranger station.

If the road is open, Inyo County Roads Department doesn't know about it because this morning they told me it was closed with a tentative opening date of May 1st, which will allow them time to check it out and clear clear off the rocks.

I had called roads already when I posted this. They didn't know (but gave mne a date if "april something" interestingly enough). As with a lot of roads in the area, there is "closed", and then there is "impassable" . I've never tried to get to that TH in the winter (always hiked in from tuttle if I wanted to visit that area in winter) so I don't know if it's gated or just the standard sawhorse in the middle of the road you can drive past at your own risk a la whitney portal.

I was trying to find out from a trail runners on the ground perspective if it was diveable all the way to the TH. Seems like a good year to do so.

If I'm not mistaken the Horseshoe Meadows road is fully gated in winter a very long way from the trailhead.

As of last week the gate was closed and locked at Carroll Creek. It was snow free to ~1 mile past Farewell Gap.

Even if it's not gated, there is a reason HM is sometimes the last road to open ... half the mountainside regularly ends up on the road (i.e. impassable)

tim wrote:If I'm not mistaken the Horseshoe Meadows road is fully gated in winter .

Drats.

May be onion valley this trip then.

My girl is running the ragnar the weekend after next and we wanted to go sleep at altitude with a mellow hike in so she wouldn't beat herself up before the race.

granite4brains wrote:Even if it's not gated, there is a reason HM is sometimes the last road to open ... half the mountainside regularly ends up on the road (i.e. impassable)

jeep jeep jeep